The Nation's Biggest Spenders Are In Silicon Valley

As the New Year approaches, many people are probably thinking of
ways to improve their personal spending habits.

The personal finance app Mint
conducted an analysis of how people in different US cities spent
their money in 2014.

It then determined which cities spent the most this year by
finding the average transaction size recorded by Mint's more than
16 million users.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, California cities dominated the list,
with the top three spaces occupied by cities in Silicon Valley.

Palo Alto, home to Stanford University and wealthy tech
executives like Marissa Mayer and Mark Zuckerberg, took the top
spot in Mint's ranking. Palo Alto residents spent an average of
$345.09 on each transaction.

Mountain View, the Silicon Valley city in which Google is
headquartered, took second place in spending, with an average
transaction size of $314.50.

Here's the complete list of the nation's top spenders,
according to Mint.

1. Palo Alto, California — average
transaction of $345.09

2. Mountain View, California — average
transaction of $314.50

3. Sunnyvale, California — average
transaction of $278.30

4. Fremont, California — average
transaction of $266.46

5. New York City — average transaction of
$239.85

6. Bellevue, Washington — average
transaction of $239.07

7. San Francisco — average transaction of
$235.90

8. Irvine, California — average transaction
of $223.45

9. Scottsdale, Arizona — average
transaction of $221.35

10. San Jose, California — average
transaction of $216.86

Mint's analysts also broke down the data into three major
categories — gasoline and car expenses, healthcare, and home — to
see where city residents were spending their money.

Though New Yorkers can make use of one of the best
public-transportation systems in the country, they also spend the
most on car expenses, most likely because of expensive parking.
People in New York City also spent the most on their homes,
though the Bay Area came in second in that category.

Gasoline & Car Expenses

1. New York City — average transaction of $81.57

2. San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose — average
transaction of $75.80

3. Houston — average transaction of $72.43

Healthcare

1. San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose — average
transaction of $67.53

2. Dallas - Fort Worth — average transaction of
$64.97

3. Los Angeles — average transaction of $64.11

Home

1. New York City — average transaction of
$516.65

2. San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose — average
transaction of $507.12